The present invention relates in general to baby chairs, and in particular, to a collapsible baby chair apparatus for releasably secured attachment to an elevated member or surface, such as a table or countertop.
Baby chairs used for attachment to elevated surfaces have been known in the art for several years. Typically, such prior art baby chairs have been constructed with two substantially parallel frame members, an intermediary linkage between the two frame members, and a chair portion, wherein one of the frame members (typically the bottom frame member) either pivots or is restrained relative to the intermediary vertical linkage--so as to enable the free ends of the frame members to be moved apart, or closer to each other, toward respective attachment and removal of the baby chair to the surface to which it is attached. In this prior art, the top frame member is often rigidly and nonpivotally supported adjacent the chair portion of the device by substantially vertical support bars comprising the intermediary linkage. Accordingly, while the top frame member is often precluded from movement, the bottom frame member can pivot so as to provide a clamping effect with respect to the free ends of the frame members prior to and after attachment of the device to the elevated surface. Once the free ends of the frame members are clamped about the elevated surface, release of the pivoting frame member, and, in turn, release of the baby chair from the elevated surface, is substantially precluded by way of a releasably locking ratchet mechanism associated with at least the pivoting frame member. Examples of such prior art devices include: Hoffman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,120; and Mariol, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,016, which prior art shows alternative pivotal and/or fixed intermediary linkages respectively.
Although such baby chairs have been effective with respect to their relatively secured and releasable attachment to an elevated surface, they have not contemplated the consumers' desire for improved collapsibility, and, in turn, compactability of such an apparatus for storage and shipping purposes when the apparatus is not in use. Indeed, inasmuch as such prior art baby chairs generally include substantially vertical support members for maintaining at least one of the frame members in a substantially rigid, non-pivotal orientation during and after usage of the chair itself, such baby chairs have been incapable of collapsing both of the frame members into a compact, relatively thin transverse profile after removal from the elevated surface to which the device was attached. Even where such prior art chairs have collapsible intermediary linkages, compactability is affected together with increased production weight and shipping costs.
Accordingly, few, if any of the prior art baby chairs for use in attachment to an elevated surface eliminate the use of vertical supporting bars so as to facilitate collapsibility and/or compactability of both of the frame members after the apparatus is removed from the surface to which it was attached. Furthermore, although some of such prior art does disclose partial collapsibility with respect to the back portion of the chair section, few, if any of such prior art teaches, much less discloses, complete collapsibility of both the seat and back portions from a fully erected opened and releasably locked orientation to a substantially closed, or collapsed, orientation--so as to provide a fully collapsible baby chair apparatus having a substantially thin transverse profile when the apparatus has been manipulated into its collapsed orientation. Such a construction, in turn, facilitates storing and/or shipping of the apparatus prior to and/or after it has been attached and then removed from the elevated surface.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible baby chair apparatus which includes two frame members pivotally attached to each other in a scissors-like orientation, and without the use of substantially vertical support members, so as to facilitate collapsibility of both of the frame members when the apparatus is not in use.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible baby chair apparatus which includes a back and seat portion which are both secured in an open position during use, and then releasable to a substantially folded, or closed, position when the apparatus is not in use, so as to further reduce the transverse profile of the collapsible baby chair apparatus prior to and after use.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible baby chair apparatus which can be easily carried after it has been collapsed, and which can be stored and/or shipped without taking up an excessive amount of space.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible baby chair apparatus which safely maintains the frame members and the chair portion in an open, fully erected orientation, while further facilitating release of the apparatus from the fully erected orientation towards collapsibility of same when the apparatus is to be removed from the elevated surface to which it is attached.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims and drawings.